Stories, Truth and Reconciliation: A Conversation with Waubgeshig Rice
As we approach the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we were honoured to host a conversation with bestselling Anishinaabe author and journalist Waubgeshig Rice.
Waubgeshig is from Wasauksing First Nation on Georgian Bay and is the author of several works of fiction, including the bestselling Moon of the Crusted Snow and its sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves. A former broadcast journalist and an ongoing Anishinaabemowin learner, his work explores contemporary Anishinaabe life, community, culture, relationships and storytelling.
The Power of Indigenous Stories
Stories are what brings people together. For me, they represent walking in another’s shoes, and are the only ways we can really see the world through another’s eyes and through their story. They can bring us back in time, to other worlds, and into the future. I come from a long line of storytellers, and as an author myself, I know the power that story has played in my own life. They’ve given me a voice, gave me closure, and changed feelings of rage to feelings of hope. There is a lot of power in telling your story, but just as much power comes from seeing someone else’s.
For generations, colonial systems attempted to silence Indigenous voices, languages, histories and ways of knowing. Part of moving toward reconciliation means creating space for Indigenous peoples to tell their own stories- and taking the time to genuinely listen to them. There is power in Indigenous stories. Old stories, oral traditions, contemporary stories, non-fiction, fiction, and children’s literature – all of them hold something special and sacred.
Through conversation with Waub I learned a little about his story and maybe even reevaluated some of my own story. I questioned the story that this country is writing together and I felt inspired to ask Canadians to both read Indigenous stories and also pick up a pen and write their own.
Truth and Reconciliation is an ongoing story that is still being written. On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation I hope many of you pick up Indigenous stories, but I hope that year-round you work to write your own. A story your grandchildren will be proud to share. A story that brings communities together.
What Are You Reading?
Inspired by our conversation with Waubgeshig, we’ve put together a reading list for anyone looking to spend some time learning from Indigenous authors this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation—and beyond. These books were recommended in the webinar by either Waubgeshig, Willie Poll or the audience members (as well as some additions).
Moon of the Crusted Snow — Waubgeshig Rice
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.
Moon of the Turning Leaves – Waubgeshig Rice
In the years since a mysterious cataclysm caused a permanent blackout that toppled infrastructure and thrust the world into anarchy, Evan Whitesky has led his community in remote northern Canada off the rez and into the bush, where they’ve been rekindling their Anishinaabe traditions, isolated from the outside world. As new generations are born, and others come of age in a world after everything, Evan’s people are stronger than ever. But resources around their new settlement are drying up, and elders warn that they cannot stay indefinitely.
Evan and his teenaged daughter, Nangohns, are chosen to lead a scouting party on a months-long trip down to their traditional home on the shores of Lake Huron—to seek new beginnings, and discover what kind of life—and what danger—still exists in the lands to the south.
Waubgeshig Rice’s exhilarating return to the world first explored in Moon of the Crusted Snow is a brooding story of survival, resilience, Indigenous identity, and rebirth.
Bad Cree – Jessica Johns
A haunting debut novel where dreams, family and spirits collide
Mackenzie, a Cree millennial, wakes up in her one-bedroom Vancouver apartment clutching a pine bough she had been holding in her dream just moments earlier. When she blinks, it disappears. But she can still smell the sharp pine scent in the air, the nearest pine tree a thousand kilometres away in the far reaches of Treaty 8.
Mackenzie continues to accidentally bring back items from her dreams, dreams that are eerily similar to real memories of her older sister and Kokum before their untimely deaths. As Mackenzie’s life spirals into a living nightmare—crows are following her around and she’s getting texts from her dead sister on the other side—it becomes clear that these dreams have terrifying, real-life consequences. Desperate for help, Mackenzie returns to her mother, sister, cousin, and aunties in her small Alberta hometown. Together, they try to uncover what is haunting Mackenzie before something irrevocable happens to anyone else around her.
Haunting, fierce, an ode to female relations and the strength found in kinship, Bad Cree is a gripping, arresting debut by an unforgettable voice.
Seven Fallen Feathers – Tanya Talaga
The groundbreaking and multiple award-winning national bestseller work about systemic racism, education, the failure of the policing and justice systems, and Indigenous rights by Tanya Talaga.
Over the span of eleven years, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They were hundreds of kilometres away from their families, forced to leave home because there was no adequate high school on their reserves. Five were found dead in the rivers surrounding Lake Superior, below a sacred Indigenous site. Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning author Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities.
Indian Horse – Richard Wagamese
Saul Indian Horse has hit bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, surrounded by people he’s sure will never understand him. But Saul wants peace, and he grudgingly comes to see that he’ll find it only through telling his story. With him, readers embark on a journey back through the life he’s led as a northern Ojibway, with all its joys and sorrows.
With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he’s sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles obdurate racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement. Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man.
Call me Indian – Fred Sasakamoose
Trailblazer. Residential school Survivor. First Treaty Indigenous player in the NHL. All of these descriptions are true–but none of them tell the whole story.
Fred Sasakamoose, torn from his home at the age of seven, endured the horrors of residential school for a decade before becoming one of 120 players in the most elite hockey league in the world. He has been heralded as the first Indigenous player with Treaty status in the NHL, making his official debut as a 1954 Chicago Black Hawks player on Hockey Night in Canada and teaching Foster Hewitt how to pronounce his name. Sasakamoose played against such legends as Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, and Maurice Richard. After twelve games, he returned home.
When people tell Sasakamoose’s story, this is usually where they end it. They say he left the NHL to return to the family and culture that the Canadian government had ripped away from him. That returning to his family and home was more important to him than an NHL career. But there was much more to his decision than that. Understanding Sasakamoose’s choice means acknowledging the dislocation and treatment of generations of Indigenous peoples. It means considering how a man who spent his childhood as a ward of the government would hear those supposedly golden words: “You are Black Hawks property.”
Sasakamoose’s story was far from over once his NHL days concluded. He continued to play for another decade in leagues around Western Canada. He became a band councillor, served as Chief, and established athletic programs for kids. He paved a way for youth to find solace and meaning in sports for generations to come. Yet, threaded through these impressive accomplishments were periods of heartbreak and unimaginable tragedy–as well moments of passion and great joy.
This isn’t just a hockey story; Sasakamoose’s groundbreaking memoir sheds piercing light on Canadian history and Indigenous politics, and follows this extraordinary man’s journey to reclaim pride in an identity and a heritage that had previously been used against him.
Monkey Beach – Eden Robinson
Tragedy strikes a Native community when the Hill family’s handsome seventeen-year-old son, Jimmy, mysteriously vanishes at sea. Left behind to cope during the search-and-rescue effort is his sister, Lisamarie, a wayward teenager with a dark secret. She sets off alone in search of Jimmy through the Douglas Channel and heads for Monkey Beach—a shore famed for its sasquatch sightings. Infused by turns with darkness and humour, Monkey Beach is a spellbinding voyage into the long, cool shadows of B.C.’s Coast Mountains, blending teen culture, Haisla lore, nature spirits and human tenderness into a multi-layered story of loss and redemption.
Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing -David Robertson
52 Ways to Reconcile is an accessible, friendly guide for non-Indigenous people eager to learn, or Indigenous people eager to do more in our collective effort towards reconciliation, as people, and as a country. As much as non-Indigenous people want to walk the path of reconciliation, they often aren’t quite sure what to do, and they’re afraid of making mistakes. This book is the answer and the long overdue guide.
The idea of this book is simple: 52 small acts of reconciliation to consider, one per week, for an entire year. They’re all doable, and they’re all meaningful. All 52 steps take readers in the right direction, towards a healthier relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and a time when we are past trauma. By following these steps, we can live in stronger and healthier communities equally, and respectfully, together.
Mother Earth is Our Elder : A Northern Indigenous Perspective on the Climate Crisis –
Catherine (Katłı̨̀ą) Lafferty
Catherine (Katłı̨̀ą) Lafferty is a Northern Dene woman who spends her time between her ancestral homelands in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and Lekwungen Speaking Peoples Coast Salish Territory. She is the author of four books, including a memoir, Northern Wildflower, written as Catherine Lafferty. Katłı̨̀ą is a mother, grandmother, and articling lawyer.
Gathering and sharing knowledge, stories, and worldviews from across Dene Nations in the Northwest Territories, this is a timely, insightful, and urgent call for reciprocity with nature to combat the global emergency of climate change.
Mother Earth is Our Elder is an urgently needed collection of personal reflections and testimonies from the Northern Dene of the Northwest Territories that offer solutions to the climate crises facing us all.
Exploring these crises through the lens of Dene Laws and Knowledge, place-based teachings, food sovereignty, and environmental racism this remarkable work highlights the importance of story from knowledge-keepers and people who have lived through catastrophic natural and human-made disasters. Katłįà’s professional and personal experiences create an ideal lens for these layered calamities and social problems, and she guides the reader to understand that Dene teachings can help us recognize how caring for the land will correct the earth from its trajectory toward irreparable harm.
For younger readers
Canada; We are the story – Richard Wagamese (ages 3-7)
A poem by acclaimed Ojibway author Richard Wagamese is reimagined as a stunning picture book in the skilled hands of Anishinaabe artist Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley. Thoughtful, healing and hopeful, Canada is a testament to the transformative power of enduring identity and belonging.
“Listen. Can you hear the voices of the Old Ones speaking to you in a language you’ve forgotten?”
An Indigenous child struggles with a school assignment that asks, “What makes you proud to be Canadian?” To find the answer, they call on the strength of their ancestors. The ancestors’ warm presence reminds them that we are in this together and we always have been — “every soul that has fallen head over heels in love with the spell of this country.”
This powerful and timeless poem written by Richard Wagamese is seen through the eyes of an Indigenous child in the captivating illustrations by Anishinaabe artist Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley. As the poem speaks to a new generation of Indigenous children, it welcomes everyone to honor the past, find belonging here and now, and look toward the future in this place now called Canada.
Animal People Choose a Leader (Ages 6-8) – Richard Wagamese
Accompanied by award-winning illustrator Bridget George’s luminous artwork, this tradition-steeped story from renowned author Richard Wagamese meditates on the unifying powers of wisdom, kindness and respect with all the visionary clarity of our most essential legends.
The unmistakable voice of revered Ojibway author Richard Wagamese returns with this moving tale, beautifully illustrated by original work from Anishinaabe artist Bridget George.
The story unfolds in a “Long Ago Time” when animals of all kinds share a common language and gather to solemnly consider which of them should be their leader. After hearing boasts about the qualities of the candidates―Horse’s fleetness, Buffalo’s stamina, Cougar’s patience, Wolverine’s stealth―the conference decides to settle the matter with a race between the challengers around a foreboding mountaintop lake. And there will be one more contestant of the most unlikely sort: a small, charmingly humble rabbit named Waabooz, whose chances are considered slim by all.
In the action that follows, described with the piercing clarity and richness of any great legend, Wagamese and George gracefully convey the limits of physical force and the quietly irresistible energies of humility, empathy and a loving attachment to the land. Unforgettable for its lyrical power and poignant message, The Animal People Choose a Leader is yet another example of the late author’s unique gifts as a storyteller, and a welcome reminder of his honoured place in Canadian writing.
Stolen Words – Melanie Florence (ages 6-9)
The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language – Cree – he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language again. This sensitive and warmly illustrated picture book explores the intergenerational impact of the residential school system that separated young Indigenous children from their families. The story recognizes the pain of those whose culture and language were taken from them, how that pain is passed down, and how healing can also be shared.
My Little Ogichidaa – Willie Poll (ages 5-8)
My Little Ogichidaa is inspired by Indigenous motherhood. It invites readers to explore the compelling dreams and hopes of an Indigenous parent for her soon-to-be-born warrior. The word Ogichidaa itself means warrior in Anishinaabemowin, and this beautifully illustrated book is a tribute to Indigenous families everywhere who are proudly raising their children to carry forward their culture, language, and love with resilience, strength, and kindness. This story is proof that despite colonization, our world is full of Indigenous art, beauty, love, and brilliance. Through the eyes of a mother, readers gain insight into the profound bonds of family and community that are central to Indigenous life. This heartwarming and empowering story is a celebration of Indigenous love and the powerful legacy that it creates.
Sage and the Snowshoe Express – Louise Bradford (ages 4-8)
An action-packed picture book inspired by the true experiences of Indigenous mail carriers.
One winter, the weather is so bad in a remote village that the mail can’t be delivered to or from the neighboring community for many weeks. But then, on a clear morning, Sage’s father decides he’ll have enough time before the next storm arrives to transport everyone’s letters and packages on the Snowshoe Express, a dogsled pulled by Nimoosh. When Sage finds an overlooked package in the snow and runs to catch up, she gets to go, too. But then they have a frightening encounter with wolves in the woods, a fast-moving storm threatens to overtake them, and Sage’s excitement turns to fear. Will they (and the mail) be able to get to the other village safely?
This compelling, edge-of-the-seat adventure story is based on the life of author Louise Bradford’s Anishinaabe and French great-great-grandfather, who delivered mail by snowshoe and sled. It offers children an excellent introduction to the important, and often treacherous, work of Indigenous mail carriers, bringing to life a lesser-known part of Indigenous history. Artwork by award-winning illustrator Maya McKibbin perfectly captures Sage’s range of emotions and vividly portrays the snow-covered landscape in shades of blue and white. The story features cultural details in the illustrations as well as Anishinaabemowin words, with a glossary. An author’s note and an introduction from the former chief of Batchewana First Nation, the community of the author and her ancestor, are also included. There are numerous curriculum links throughout to social studies and Indigenous history lessons.
Little Shoes – David Robertson (ages 3-7)
Deep in the night, when James should be sleeping, he tosses and turns. He thinks about big questions, like why we don’t feel dizzy when the Earth spins. He looks at the stars outside his bedroom and thinks about the Night Sky Stories his kōkom has told him. He imagines being a moshom himself. On nights like these, he follows the moonlit path to his mother’s bedroom. They talk and they cuddle, and they fall asleep just like that.
One day, James’s kōkom takes him on a special walk with a big group of people. It’s called a march, and it ends in front of a big pile of things: teddy bears, flowers, tobacco ties and little shoes. Kōkom tells him that this is a memorial in honor of Indigenous children who had gone to residential schools and boarding schools but didn’t come home. He learns that his kōkom was taken away to one of these schools with her sister, who also didn’t come home.
That night, James can’t sleep so he follows the moonlit path to his mother. She explains to James that at residential school when Kōkom felt alone, she had her sister to cuddle, just like they do. And James falls asleep gathered in his mother’s arms.
You were made for this world (ages 8-12), multiple authors
Every young person deserves the chance to feel like they belong, that they are recognized, that they matter. In the spirit of A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader, You Were Made for This World brings together forty Indigenous writers, artists, activists, athletes, scholars and thinkers with a joint purpose: to celebrate the potential of young people, to share a sense of joy and pride in language, traditional and personal stories and teachings, and shared experiences, and to honor young people for who they are and what they dream of.
Including contributions from activist Autumn Peltier, singer/songwriter Tanya Tagaq, hockey player Ethan Bear, Governor General’s Award–winning author David A. Robertson, artists Chief Lady Bird and Christi Belcourt, illustrator Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, and dozens of others, this beautifully collaborative collection urges readers to think about who they are, where they come from and where they’re going, with a warm familiarity that will inspire you to see yourself and your community with proud eyes.
The Ribbon Skirt – Cameron Mukwa (ages 8-12)
Cameron Mukwa is a two-spirit Anishinaabe cartoonist, illustrator, and children’s educator whose portfolio of work is dedicated to showcasing Indigenous and transgender joy.
A joyful coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel by debut Indigenous creator Cameron Mukwa about the journey of a two-spirit kid who wants to create a ribbon skirt for the upcoming powwow.
Ten-year-old Anang wants to make a ribbon skirt, a piece of clothing typically worn by women in the Anishinaabe tradition, for an upcoming powwow. Anang is two-spirit and nonbinary and doesn’t know what others will think of them wearing a ribbon skirt, but they’re determined to follow their heart’s desire. Anang sets off to gather the materials needed to make the skirt and turns to those around them — their family, their human and turtle friends, the crows, and even the lake itself — for help. And maybe they’ll even find a new confidence within themself along the way.
Air Heist – Cheryl Isbister (ages 9-12)
Cheryl Isbister is a Metis author and educator from Red River Winnipeg, currently living in Victoria, BC. She received a bachelor of Education from the University of Regina. She also holds a Masters of Educational Leadership. She is a member of Metis Nation of British Columbia, as well as Metis Nation of Greater Victoria. She enjoys bringing in her interests and hobbies into her books, such as gardening, and beadwork. She has a deep connection with the land and loves to learn the names of places and plants, as well as their traditional food and medicinal uses. The most important themes in her work have to do with being kind to one another, protecting the land, water, and air. Things are always changing, but those things will remain important to us no matter what.
Twelve year old siblings, Sage and Crew have lived at Greenhouse Academy, a prestigious private school for students with extraordinary abilities, for as long as they can remember. Their parents’ identities have always been a mystery. When the siblings and their friends find out that within six months the air in Alberta will not be safe to breathe, they are determined to find out why and how to stop it. As Sage and Crew delve deeper into the mystery they realize that the answers to both the pollution and their lineages may be found within the walls of the academy